Baldwin's Kody Takushi looks for a teammate as Kapolei's Elia McKeague defends. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Kapolei's Christopher Dillard puts up a jump shot against Baldwin. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Baldwin's Teva Eldridge drives the ball down the court against Kapolei. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Wed, Feb 20, 2013 @ McKinley

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Kapolei

43

Baldwin

57

Final	1	2	3	4
Kapolei (12-1, 20-10)	4	13	10	16	43
Baldwin	11	16	12	18	57

T. Eldridge 16 pts  8/17 FTs

C. Dillard 17 pts  2 3pm  3/5 FTs

The Baldwin Bears built an early margin and kept Kapolei at bay in a 57-43 victory to advance to play top-seeded Maryknoll in the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball Championships.

Forward Teva Eldridge made his presence felt in the paint and led the Bears with 16 points, but shot just 8-of-17 from the free throw line.

"We wanted to bang a little since it was the first game in the states. I struggled from the free throw line, but my teammates helped me push through it. Our team is young, but we play with a lot of confidence. We didn't end the MIL season that great, but everyone came out and proved they were working on their game," said Eldridge.

"He missed a lot of shots inside, I think was a little intimidated by the size inside, the long arms and jumping ability they had. What he did for us more importantly was rebounding, he pulled in a lot tonight," Gushiken.

Baldwin also got great production in the scoring column from Kody Takushi (11), Ryan Garces (11) and Philip Thomas (9).

"What really worked for us was (Ryan) Garces and (Philip) Thomas and they came through because we weren't getting much scoring too much from our post," said Gushiken.

Baldwin got off to a good start and took an early 7-0 lead after a layup from Bradley Bowlin. The Bears led 11-4 after the first quarter.

Baldwin head coach Wayne Gushiken said, "That was big for us, getting off to a good start and having the upper hand so to speak."

In the second quarter, Baldwin's Jacob Valle's runner off the backboard put the Bears up by 10, 16-6. Kapolei made a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 1, 18-17 after Curtis Tavares found Zachary Reeves before Baldwin called timeout at 1:19. After the timeout, the Bears went on a 9-0 run capped off by Philip Thomas as he made a basket with 0.7 seconds left to end the first half.

Coach Gushiken remarked, "We just told them, take care of the ball and let the game come to you."

In the third quarter, a baseline jumper by Baldwin's Ryan Garces put the Bears up 29-17. Kapolei's Curtis Tavares hit a three pointer to bring the game within 11. Baldwin's Kody Takushi hit a three pointer to go up, 39-23. Kapolei scored 4 straight points to end the quarter, but still trailed by 12 going into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, Kapolei's Christopher Dillard hit a three pointer to bring the Hurricanes within 9, 39-30. Baldwin extended the lead back to 13 after a jumper by Philip Thomas. Kapolei managed to cut the deficit to 7 after Elia McKeague sank a 3 pointer in the left corner. However Baldwin extended the lead back to double digits and never looked back.

Baldwin will face a realtively familiar foe in Maryknoll in the state quarterfinals.

"Well, hopefully Brad (Bowlin) can play. If Brad is in the game, I think we can matchup better.," said Gushiken. Bowlin hopped off the court after spraining his ankle. "We played them in the preseason tournament at Punahou and we did a pretty good job and I'm sure they're much better and that's what we're looking forward to."

Maryknoll has size with 6'9 Tobias Schramm and 6'5 Hyrum Harris, but Eldridge is looking forward to the battle.

"We have to play harder than what we did tonight, tonight was exceptional, but we have to play our best," said Eldridge.

Christopher Dillard led Kapolei with 17 points and two 3-pointers.